The Secret in the Child
by Oliviet
Summary: Everyone comes with a past, and this one happened to be Brennan's... AU Please R&R.


**AN: I know, I know. I should be updating my other stories instead of starting a new one, but when an idea hits… I sort of struggled with writing this, feeling like it wasn't as good as it could be, so I'd really appreciate your feedback. I feel like I didn't capture Brennan's voice as well as I normally do. Maybe I'm just paranoid but… Well anyway, Enjoy! **

The past is full of mistakes. Some end up being a disaster and some actually become a blessing. The line between disaster and blessing is as fine as the line between love and hate. A mistake is what you make of it. So make your choices wisely…

It had started out like any other day. She had examined the remains of a 40-something-year-old man, ruling that it indeed was a homicide. She had then made her way over to the courthouse to testify against a man who had murdered his wife. She had just finally settled into her office to finish some old paperwork, when _he_ walked in.

"Temperance."

"What are you doing here?"

It had been eight years since she'd seen him. Eight years since she'd seen _her_.

"Sweetie, why don't you go over there and play and let the adults talk?"

"Those things aren't meant to be played with."

"Tempe, she's eight. Humor her."

"Exactly," Brennan said dryly.

She watched in horror as the little girl reached for the fertility statue she'd been given as a gift from friends in Africa.

"I need you to take her."

"Aren't there babysitters for that sort of thing?"

"It won't just be for today."

"Brian, I haven't seen the girl since she was born. What's with the sudden urgency for me to take her?"

"I…I was a witness in a murder of a really…dangerous person. I have to go into the witness protection program."

"Okay, so take her with you. That's the point of the program: to protect your _family_."

"I can't do that to her: just uproot her from her life. Besides, it's not like these people know I have a daughter."

"Okay first of all, you're uprooting her just by leaving her. And secondly, I deal with these kind of people all of the time; they have ways of obtaining more information than you ever thought possible. She might not be safe here."

"You work for the FBI. She'll be safe with you."

"I'm a _consultant _for the FBI. I can't protect her anymore than you can. Take her with you."

"I can't, Tempe. They told me I have to find her other family to live with. Please, just take care of her for a while."

"How long?"

"As soon as they assure me things are safe."

She looked over at the girl absentmindedly toying with her shoelaces.

"This is insane, Brian. You can't just walk in here after eight years and demand that I take responsibility for that girl!"

"_That girl_ has a name."

Brennan looked over at her again, instantly feeling sympathy for her. She saw herself in the girl; her parents leaving her before she even turned 18.

"Fine," she answered at last.

"Really?"

"What about her belongings?"

"Already at your place; found the hide-a-key," Brian smiled.

"How did you –"

"Phonebook."

Brennan ran a hand over her face, failing to believe this was all really happening. Who was she kidding? She had no idea how to raise a child.

"Brian, I –"

"Look Tempe, I know we've had our differences in the past, but I need you to put them behind you and do this for me. She has no where else to go and you know better than anyone that foster care is not an option."

"I already said that I'd take her. I just fail to comprehend why you can't."

"It's complicated…I really have to go."

"But Brian –"

"Thanks, Tempe! You're the greatest!"

And just as suddenly as he had appeared, he was gone: rushing through the doors of the Jeffersonian, headed who knows where, and abandoning his only child. Brennan looked back over at the girl who was still toying with her shoelaces. She suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe.

"Bones!"

She heard Booth call her name off in the distance. She was in no mood to deal with him right now, but she knew there was no avoiding it. As soon as he saw the girl he was going to want an explanation, and she just couldn't lie to him.

"Got a body for you," Booth smiled, stepping past her into her office. "Wait, who's the kid?"

"Her name is Lily. Booth, I don't think now is the best time to –"

"What's she doing here?"

Brennan took a deep breath before dropping the bombshell, as Booth would have put it, on her partner. "She's my daughter."

"Huh…what?"

"Booth –"

"Why didn't you tell me that you had a kid? I told you about my kid, hell you've _met_ my kid!"

"I –"

"I thought you trusted me."

"I did…I do."

"Doesn't feel that way to me."

Pain was etched across his face as he left her office in huff.

"Booth! What about the body?"

"I'll take an intern," he called over his shoulder.

Past mistakes lead to current ones, and those are the hardest kind to fix.

"That your boyfriend?" Lily's voice was almost mouse-like. It sounded small and distant.

"My partner," Brennan responded, not taking her eyes off of Booth's retreating back. "I thought he'd understand. Guess I was wrong."

"Dad says you're like a genius or something."

Brennan turned around to look at her, really looking at her for the first time. Lily had her hair, her eyes, and her nose. Her facial features alone were enough to indicate a relation between the two.

"I am," she replied.

"He says you do that."

"Do what?"

"You don't beat around the bush."

"I don't know what that means."

Lily laughed and Brennan couldn't help but feel a sense of attachment to the girl. "He says you do that too."

Brennan moved over to the couch and sat down next to her. "Does he talk about me a lot?"

Lily shrugged. "You're my mom."

_Mom_. The word almost made Brennan laugh. Just because she had given birth to this girl… that didn't make her the girl's mother. There were certain qualities one must posses to be considered a mother and Brennan found that she didn't posses them. But then again what did she know about motherhood? Her mom was only around until she was 15 and back then she didn't think it was necessary to memorize everything about Ruth Keenan.

"Do you like him?" Lily asked after Brennan's prolonged silence.

"Your father?"

The girl shook her head. "Your partner."

"Well he is one of my closet friends so –"

"No, I meant do you like, like him? More than as a friend. I'm just asking cause he seemed really upset that he didn't know about me. Like you had cheated on him or something."

"He's my partner."

"Right," Lily said, pushing herself off of the couch. She wandered over to look at the skulls by Brennan's desk. "What is it exactly that you do?"

"I'm a forensic anthropologist."

"I'm eight. I'm going to need more than that."

Brennan couldn't help but smile. The girl was inquisitive, just like her.

"Basically, I work with the FBI and help identify the remains of murder victims."

"Like one of those CSI people?"

"I don't really deal with the crime scenes. We have Dr. Hodgins for that…"

Lily nodded and turned back around to face Brennan.

"Aren't you supposed to be at school right now?" Brennan asked, looking at her watch.

"Teacher work day."

"So you've really been right here in D.C. this whole time?"

"You act like you didn't know."

"I didn't. I had assumed that Brian took you and moved away after I left."

"Why did you leave?"

Brennan let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She knew that question was bound to occur, but that still didn't prepare her to answer it.

"I just wasn't ready. I'd just received my job here at the Jeffersonian and the thought of having a baby to deal with terrified me. And your father and I could _not_ get along…"

Lily proceeded to just stare at her.

"I'm sorry I did that to you. My parents got in a car when I was 15, drove away, and never came back. And shortly after my older brother left me too. I had to go into the foster system, which was a complete nightmare. I know what it's like to feel completely alone and abandoned."

"What ever happened to them?"

"My brother used to call me every year on my birthday, but I would never talk to him. And then a couple of years ago, one of the bodies that came in was identified as my mother. Turned out she had been here as long as I had. My partner got my brother involved in the investigation and we have since reconnected. My father's back as of recently as well and things are…fine I suppose."

"I'm sorry about your mom."

"Thank you."

They sat in silence for a while, not knowing what else to say. Brennan didn't know what to say to her and she still was distracted by the fact that Booth had chosen an _intern_ over her. Everybody comes with secrets, mistakes, and she had thought that Booth of all people would be able to understand that.

"I know it's only 11, but do you think we could go grab some lunch? I never ate breakfast," Lily told her.

"Uh sure. I know just the place."

**AN: More to come! Review please. :) **


End file.
